China Announces Largest Military Spending Increase In 3 Years : The Two-WayBeijing says it will spend 8.1 percent more than last year on modernizing its military. The announcement comes amid continued tension between the U.S. and China in the South China Sea.

China on Monday announced the largest increase in three years to its defense budget, saying it would spend 8.1 percent more than the previous year as the country continues a push to modernize its military and expand its air and naval capabilities.

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China-U.S. Tensions Escalate On The High Seas

China-U.S. Tensions Escalate On The High Seas

However, the official Xinhua news agency reports that the latest budget — made available ahead of the country's 13th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing — marks the "third time for the growth rate to dip into the single digit since 2011, following 7.6 percent in 2016 and 7 percent in 2017."

Xinhua quotes Major General Chen Zhou, research fellow at the Academy of Military Sciences affiliated with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) as saying:

"Steady and appropriate growth of defense spending is necessary because the Chinese armed forces have been modernizing to keep up with the country's development ...

A large part of the increased spending is for upgrading equipment, supporting military reforms and improving the welfare and training conditions of servicemen and women, Chen said."

In a statement last month, IISS Director-General John Chipman cited China's and Russia's resurgent militaries as "challenging the global predominance of the United States and its allies."

"[While] a great power war is not inevitable, states are systematically preparing for the possibility of conflict," he said, adding that China's "land and naval forces are modernizing and progress in defense aerospace remains remarkable."

Among other things, Chipman said, by 2020, China was likely to field its Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter jet, effectively ending the U.S. monopoly on such combat aircraft.